John 8:56-59 - Before Abraham was, I Am

The Jews had always felt that with God, they would always have a special place because of their relationship and link with Abraham. And since the people showed such great respect and admiration for Abraham, Jesus turned to talk about him to debunk their arguments. He told them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” God had promised that through his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed. When Isaac came, Abraham greatly rejoiced, for he foresaw through him and his descendant, the promise of being God’s instrument of blessings to the generations would be fulfilled. In that sense Abraham saw the day of Christ.   

Incredulously, the Jews made reference to Jesus’ age, showing us that they had greatly misunderstood Him. They must have thought that Jesus was out of His mind. In their estimate, Jesus was hardly 50 years old, an age where Numbers 4:3 tells us that a Levite would complete his service. How could He have seen Abraham? They were thinking of the physical age. Jesus had maintained that He did not come on this mission on His own accord. He must be with the Father all along to be sent. He was at the beginning with God, so He must have seen Abraham. With that, He asserted the claim saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” More than just stating His presence, He is claiming to be God. He now turned to the covenant name of God – the great “I Am.” That tells us today that Jesus is one and the same with the covenant keeping God.

It is interesting to note that God’s covenant name is, “I Am.” This is the unfinished name of God. He is the “I Am”, the ever present one. There will be no past tense with God. It is an incomplete sentence because there is the subject “I” and the verb to be, “am”, but there is no object. God had probably deliberately have it that way. He wants us to complete the sentence according to the needs we have. If we need peace, He will say to us, “I am your peace.” If we need healing, He will tell us, “I am your healer.” In this way, He can furnish our needs in all circumstances of life. So what is our most urgent need today?  

Sadly, the Jews could only see blasphemy. So they took up stones and were ready to pelt Him. Their rage had so blinded them that they could see no other way to deal with Jesus. With their passion aroused, they sought to take matters into their own hands to kill Him. Since it was not the hour for Jesus to give His life yet, He hid Himself from them, and then left the Temple.   

John had begun this Gospel by talking about the pre-existence of Christ. Here he again shows it through Jesus’ confrontation with the Jews. Indeed Christ is one with God. In Him we are complete in God. What an honor it is for us to know Him! We become true disciples of His by continuing in His Word. As we do, we shall know the life-liberating truths, and be empowered to live a life of liberty for Him. What a privilege!